Originally Posted by SMann

5.56 rounds penetrate less layers of dry wall than 12 ga buckshot and 9mm rounds. Saying an incompetant person is better off with a handgun is rediculous. Your logic is weak and your facts are not accurate.

First off, it is rIdiculous. It amazes me how many people can't spell that right, and it aggrivates the ever living crap out of me!

A 5.56...yes. Not everyone has a 5.56. I know a couple of people in person and a ton on the internet who don't like the ar-15 platform and will not shot anything other than a 7.62 ak-47. Being that the 7.62 can penetrate a cinder block I am pretty sure dry wall will be pretty easy. Then you figure in ammo for each gun and you can have varied results. FMJ vs Hollowpoint. For the people who do have armor piercing ammo, and the others who wanted the Dragon's Breath ammo, etc. There are a ton of factors. So to say that a 5.56 is always better is weak and inaccurate.

Then you have the debate of whether to use buckshot and birdshot in a shotgun. Buckshot will penetrate deeper than birdshot. Of course there is alot of debate over a birdshot's stopping power much like a 9mm.

Now let's take in the fact that maybe a guy does have a 5.56. Now take a woman who is home by herself, someone breaks in. A fullsized ar-15 is going to be a bit unwielded for a woman who doesn't have much experience with a gun much less an ar-15 especially in a high stressed situation. My wife has never shot a rifle and has only shot a shotgun once in her life and refuses to shoot another. Yet is extremely accurate with her pistol I bought her. Not only that, I'm satisfied that half the guys who own a ar-15 wouldn't be able to clear a house effectively in a high stress situation with a ar-15. Your average person doesn't take the time to practice shooting much less take the time to train how to effectively clear said house.

If that isn't enough you will also have to factor in angle shots. Behind a bed with the rifle, shotgun, or pistol aimed upward will have a different type penetration than say if you are aiming down, or straight at the bad guy.

So if you want my opinion. I feel that anyone who has little to no gun experience will find a assualt type rifle very cumbersome and unmanageable in a high stress situation. Stuck in one room and not moving, prop a shotgun on a bed. But, for overall use a person with little to no gun experience can quickly adapt to using a pistol at close range. I know I did when I first got into shooting. And to this day I can still shoot a pistol better than a rifle or shotgun.